Practical Magic: I Have Something to Tell You
by Taylorama
Summary: Takes place a year after Practical Magic. One of the Owens women has something to tell the family.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This takes place maybe a year after Practical Magic, and I've added three characters: a cousin, Lexi Owens (13), her friend Kate McPherson (13), and her guy friend/ possible love interest Patrick Lennox (14)

A/N: This takes place maybe a year after Practical Magic, and I've added three characters: a cousin, Lexi Owens (13), her friend Kate McPherson (13), and her guy friend/ possible love interest Patrick Lennox (14). Oh, and nothing is mine (except for the new characters.

"I Have Something to Tell You"

Frances Owens was sitting in the kitchen of the Victorian house that she shared with her sister and two nieces, Gillian and Lexi. She was pondering on when to tell them about what she had agreed to do. The question seemed to have answered itself when Gillian, Lexi, Kate, and Patrick walked in.

"Hey, Aunt Fran," Lexi said as she walked to the fridge.

"Hi," she replied, somewhat distractedly.

"What's wrong?" asked Gillian, who always seemed to pick up on those things.

"Noth-," Fran began to say, when she decided that it was either now or never, "I have something to tell you."

"Do you have some life-threatening disease, like Lampington's?" Kate spat out.

"Uh…" Frances said.

"Sorry," Lexi apologized, "She's been watching Last Holiday one too many times."

"So, what is it?" Patrick asked.

"I-"

Just then, Aunt Jet walked through the door, coming back from the post office. Sally, Gillian's sister, her husband Gary, and their children Kylie and Antonia followed her in.

"What's going on?" Sally asked the group in the kitchen.

"Aunt Fran wanted to tell us something, and it sounded important," Kate said, "And don't worry, it's not Lampington's."

"Good to know," said Gary, giving her an odd look.

"What did you want to tell us?" Aunt Jet asked her younger sister.

"Do all of you remember my cousin Alice?" Aunt Frances started.

She was replied with mixed agreement.

"Well, she and her husband Frank want a child, but they can't conceive, so they asked me."

"To do what?" asked Kate, always the dim-witted one.

"To be their surrogate, you spaz," Lexi replied for her.

"So are you?" Patrick asked.

"Yes," Fran replied, "And I found out a week ago that I'm pregnant with their triplets."

TBC….


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I know I only posted the first chapter a few hours ago, but I got the idea for the second chapter now

A/N: I know I only posted the first chapter a few hours ago, but I got the idea for the second chapter now. So here it is. Enjoy!

There was a long silence in the kitchen before Jet found her voice

"That's great!" she exclaimed before hugging Fran.

"Triplets?" Sally, the practical one, asked, "Have you ever heard of a woman your age having one baby, let alone triplets?"

"Have you ever heard of a woman my age who was a witch having triplets?" Frances replied.

"Ooh, she's got you there," Kate said.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Lexi exclaimed, "I did some volunteering in a doctor's clinic once, and it's pretty hard to not pick up a few things."

"Okay, so you can take care of Aunt Fran," Sally said.

"Take care? I'm only three months pregnant!"

"I hate to admit it, but I think Sally's right on this," Jet said cautiously, "It is pretty risky with you pregnant and all."

"I guess you're right," Fran agreed, "Frank and Alice'll be at all of my doctor's appointments."

"Have you thought about birthing classes?" Patrick asked.

"I haven't had a chance to think about it."

"I have a bunch of brochures you can look at," Lexi offered, "I'll go get them!"

Pretty soon, all of the people in the kitchen were firing questions left and right before Gillian noticed that Fran was getting worn out, and sent her to bed to rest.

"I just can't believe that she's pregnant," Gary said, playing with the word inside his head, as if it'll make it that much more real.

"I know," Kylie seconded.

"Can Lexi and I take her maternity shopping?" Kate asked expectantly.

"I don't think that we'll have to take care of that," Jet replied "She doesn't exactly wear tight clothes."

"Good point," Gillian reasoned.

"Who's gonna be her labor partner for the birthing classes?" Lexi asked.

"What do you mean?" Sally furrowed her brow.

"Well, you know how Frank is super-busy and all," Lexi started, "Of course he'll try to be at the birth, but someone will have to be her partner for the classes."

"I'll do it," Jet said with confidence she didn't know she possessed.

"All right," Sally responded, "It looks like we have a plan to put together."

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Fifth month

A/N: Fifth month. No reviews yet, but they are welcome. And yes, I do realize that this story has only been up for a day!

Two months later, everything was in full swing. Lexi was on top of the medical things, while Sally, Jet, and Gillian checked up on Fran every so often. The four of them and Kate were talking in the kitchen on an especially trying day.

"I hear that the fifth month is the worst," Gillian confided.

"You're right," Lexi agreed, "Usually you get swollen ankles, backaches, stretch marks, and breathlessness."

"Does she need any shots or something?" Kate wondered.

"Not really," Sally said, "Unless she was pregnant in Sierra Leone or something."

"Not even a rabies shot?" Kate pressed.

"Why, pray tell, would Aunt Fran need a rabies shot?" Gillian asked.

"What if a dog bites her?"

"Don't you get those needles after the dog bites you?" Jet asked.

"And don't those only affect dogs?" Sally added.

"No," Kate answered, "They affect monkeys and other animals."

"Monkeys?" Lexi asked, confused, "Why would we need to worry about rabid monkeys in Rhode Island?"

"It was just an example," Kate said.

"How are the birthing classes coming?" Sally asked Jet.

"Surprisingly well," Jet said, "We're learning about how to time contractions and everything."

"Great," Sally said, "Now someone should go check on Aunt Fran."

"I'll do it," Jet volunteered.

"Alright," Lexi said, "I have to get to the _Alternative_ office. My deadline for the lead story is in two hours, and I still need to proofread!"

"I'll help!" Kate exclaimed.

Soon after the conversation, Jet took up some vegetable soup to her younger sister's room. Frances was resting comfortably in bed.

"Hey," Jet started.

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?"

"Not bad," Fran responded, "I'm just glad that the first trimester is over."

"Have you spoken to Frank and Alice? Your next ultrasound is in three hours."

"They can't make it to this one."

"If you want, some of us can go."

"That would be…nice."

Three hours later, Lexi, Jet, Kate, and Gary found themselves sitting next to Frances, who was on the examination table. Dr. Maitland was getting the monitor ready.

"May I ask why you're here?" Lexi asked Gary.

"Because Sally reminded me that I owe her one."

"Do I want to know?"

"Not really."

"Okay then."

"Alright, the monitor is set up, the jelly is on, and we're ready to take a look," Dr. Maitland interrupted the banter between Gary and Lexi, "Are you ready, Ms. Owens?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Okay, here we go."

The camera moved around slowly to show a clear picture of the triplets.

"It looks so tiny!" Kate squealed.

"They," Lexi corrected.

"They look like they could fit in the palm of my hand," Gary noted.

Meanwhile, Fran was staring at the monitor, tears in her eyes.

"Franny, what's wrong?" Jet asked.

"Nothing," Fran quickly wiped away the tears, "It's just so…amazing."

"Isn't it though?" Dr. Maitland responded.

They all couldn't stop staring at the screen. Little did they know that something with the pregnancy was going to go very, very wrong.

TBC…..


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sixth month

A/N: Sixth month. See disclaimer on chapters one, two, and three.

A month after the ultrasound, Frank and Alice flew to Rhode Island to be with their surrogate. The day after they arrived, Jet, Patrick, and Kate overheard a conversation between the two parents-to-be.

"Rhode Island sure is beautiful," Alice noted.

"Yeah, yeah," Frank brushed her off, "I hope you don't forget why we're really here."

"To be with the surrogate?"

"Other than that."

"We just want the baby to be the heirs to the company you work for?"

"That's right. Babe, we'll be rich in no time!"

"But don't we care about my cousin?"

"Screw her. She's only a pawn in the master plan."

The three people eavesdropping were absolutely shocked at what they were hearing.

"Should we tell anyone?" Jet whispered.

"Maybe just Gillian, Sally, Gary, and Lexi," Patrick reasoned, "We shouldn't worry Aunt Fran."

"You're probably right," Kate reluctantly agreed.

So they all crept up to Lexi's room, where to their surprise, the others were there. Lexi was reading the latest edition of the _Alternative _and smiling with pride.

"How's the article?" Patrick asked.

"Amazing, if I do say so myself," Lexi beamed.

"What's up?" Sally questioned.

"Well, we overheard a conversation that Frank and Alice were having in the living room, and we had to tell you guys," said Jet with fear in her voice.

"What is it?" Gary asked, his interest suddenly peaking.

"They're just using her!" Kate screamed. She was soon muffled by a pillow that Patrick threw in front of her face.

"We know that," Gillian responded, "She's their surrogate."

"Other than that," Patrick said in a hushed tone, "They only want the baby so that they can be the heirs to the company that Frank works for."

"Wow," Sally said, shocked, "So do we tell Aunt Fran?"

"Tell me what?" the woman herself asked the group.

"Oh Franny!" Jet threw her arms around her sister, who took a seat beside Lexi on the bed.

"Whoa," Frances responded, "Easy there, girl. What were you going to tell me?"

"We shouldn't upset you," Lexi pointed out.

"Tell me."

And so the whole ugly truth spilled out of their lips. Fran could hardly believe what they were saying and was on the verge of tears. How could they do this to her? Pretty soon, it became a losing battle, and the tears started to flow, along with sobs that wracked her whole body. While the others comforted her, the couple in the living room rushed up the stairs.

"What's the matter?" Alice asked, feigned concern in her voice.

"_You_," Lexi said, fury blazing in her eyes.

"What?" Frank added.

"How could you do this to the woman who is going through this pregnancy for you?" Sally said, her voice low and furious.

"Do what?" Alice played dumb.

"We overheard the conversation," Patrick replied, "And I think I speak for all of us when I say GET OUT!"

"But what about the baby?" Frank asked.

"You didn't care about him or her then, you probably won't care now," Jet responded with protection that was obvious to anyone watching.

"Fine," Frank replied, "But don't expect any child support from us!"

"We don't need it!" Frances hollered after them

TBC….


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: If anyone's reading this story (and if there is, WRITE A REVIEW

A/N: If anyone's reading this story (and if there is, WRITE A REVIEW!!), sorry I haven't been updating. Just so you all know, I'm just skipping a few months because I have no clue what to fill the other months with, so I'll just skip to the good stuff!

Two months after, the dysfunctional family were hard at work (except Fran, of course) making a nursery for the triplets. Lexi was designing and overseeing the whole nursery because "I was a contractor's apprentice once," Patrick was doing all the calculating, Gary was working the furniture, Sally and Gillian were decorating, Kate was Lexi's assistant and kept screwing up, and Jet, Antonia, and Kylie were cleaning up after Kate screws up.

"I can't believe that we're almost done the nursery!" Kate said excitedly.

"Neither can I," Sally mused.

"Just one more teddy bear here, and….," Lexi replied, "We're finite!"

"Wow," Gary said, "This looks amazing."

"We just have to show Aunt Fran!" Kate squealed, "But we don't want to give her toxic shock syndrome or anything."

"You can only get that from tampons," Gillian responded.

"Oh yeah?"

"Well, we can't show her now," Jet said, "She's having a na-"

"JET!" Frances's pain-filled scream cut through the discussion.

"Hold on," Jet told the group before rushing off to see her sister.

They only paused for a second, maybe a millisecond before following her. They found Fran curled up in the fetal position in a pool of blood.

"Lexi, what's going on?" Fran asked, her voice breaking.

"I would say miscarriage, but it's too late in the pregnancy," Lexi mused, "So, I have to say, Aunt Fran, you are in labor."

TBC…..


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever. Thanks for reviewing! This story is probably going to last for maybe two to four chapters, so enjoy the next installment!

"Oh dear God," Patrick gasped.

"What's all the blood for?" asked Kate, "Because when my mom has having my twin sisters, there was no pool of blood or anything like that. Just a pool of barf."

"A, ew. No one needs to know that," Lexi began, "and B, how the hell am I supposed to know? I'm not a doctor!"

"Ooh!" Fran was having major contractions at this point and needed a labor partner.

"Okay, Franny honey, remember the labor breathing," Jet soothed as she grasped both of her younger sister's hands.

Meanwhile, Lexi was firing orders left and right. Sally ran to call 911 (because there was no way they would get to the nearest maternity-equipped hospital in rush hour), Gary was busy freaking out, Gillian grabbed Kylie and Antonia made their way to the hospital, and Kate and Patrick were getting anything Lexi asked for.

Half and hour later….

Everybody had made their way to the hospital at this point. Fran was in her hospital room with Jet suffering every last contraction, Lexi, Kate, and Patrick were trying to attempt a live broadcast of their webshow from the hospital waiting room, Sall was pacing frantically, Gary was trying to make her stop, and Gilly, Kylie, and Antonia were playing with a deck of cards.

"YES!" Kate screamed like a lunatic.

"What?" Patrick asked after shoving yet another pillow at her face.

"They're letting us do our broadcast in the waiting room!" Kate replied a little more calmly.

"Oh yeah!" Lexi said, "Whose gonna get the stuff?"

"I will!" Gary volunteered, "I need some air."

"I can't believe you pulled it off," Gillian said to Kate, "How did you do it?"

"Let's just say that I played around with orange balls with the head male nurse."

"Oh. My. GOD!" Lexi said with her hand over her mouth.

"What are you- oh, not that!" Kate replied hastily, "I played a game of one-on-one."

They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, in Frances's hospital room, things weren't going as well.

"Jet," she said in a voice that her older sister had heard in many years, "Jet, I can't do this."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm….I'm not sure that I can handle raising triplets."

"Honey, you have us to help you. And besides-" Jet cut off after seeing tears fill her younger sister's eyes, "What's wrong?"

"I'm so….scared." The last word came out as almost a whisper.

"Oh Franny." Jet held Fran as she cried.

In the waiting room, Gary had just gotten back with the equipment when the doctor walked into the room.

"How is she?" Sally asked Dr. Braden.

"Not good," he began, "Here's what's happening…."

TBC….


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well, once I got started, I couldn't stop

A/N: Well, once I got started, I couldn't stop. I found something bad to happen during delivery!! Please post a review to anyone reading this story. Believe me, it does help.

"Well, Doc?" Gary asked.

"Your aunt has-"

"Hold it," Patrick called from the computer station, "Almost, and… GO!"

Dr Braden gave Patrick a confused look before continuing. "Your aunt has what is called pre-eclampsia, where hypertension occurs during the end of pregnancy, along with significant amounts of protein in the urine."

"Which means…?" a confused Gillian asked for those who weren't Lexi.

"She has high blood pressure and protein in her pee," Lexi stated bluntly.

"Oh, my God," Sally gasped, "How do you treat this?"

"At this stage, abortion is out of the question, so we are about to induce labor."

"Isn't she already _in _labor?" Kate said, for once asking a legit question.

"We have to make it go faster," the doctor responded, "But we need your permission first."

"Why can't you ask the woman herself?" Gary questioned.

"She is in too much pain to make that decision. Her sister, however, said that she will agree to whatever you wanted-"

"Do it," Sally blurted out.

"Shouldn't we, oh, I don't know, discuss this?" Lexi shot back.

"We have to do what's best for Aunt Fran right now, and you have to agree that is more than likely the best thing."

"Fine," they all agreed.

In the hospital room….

Dr Braden walked in rather briskly. Something about that made Jet Owens nervous.

"What did they say?" she asked almost immediately.

"It's a go-ahead," Dr. Braden replied.

Jet nodded her head slowly. There was still something that bothered her about the doctor's air if you will. She looked over at her sister, who had been given a sedative and was somewhat peacefully resting. Jet knew that Fran would be awake soon enough.

"What are you not telling me?" she asked with a little more of an edge than she would have liked.

Dr. Braden closed the hospital room door before answering her, "There was something on those tests we ran that bother me, and I can't figure out why."

Suddenly, Frances Owens woke up with the mother (no pun intended) of all contractions. She began to breathe so fast, one might think that she was about to hyperventilate.

"Franny!" Jet said, "Remember the breathing!"

In the waiting room….

"Alright," Lexi was telling the viewers, "we will take a short break here on the LK Experience. We'll be back."

"And we're….OUT," Patrick called from his station, "90-second break."

"I've always wondered," Kate asked aloud, "How long is 90 seconds?"

"A minute and a half," Gary answered for them.

It had been a trying three hours while they waited for the aunt to give birth to the triplets. Sally came back from the cafeteria to give the group some much-needed nourishment. Soon after, the man of the hour (that's Dr. Braden for those who don't know) walked in.

"We're on in five…four…three…two…and," Patrick pointed at the girls.

"Welcome back to the special extended edition of the LK Experience," Kate began, "I'm Kate."

"And I'm Lexi. And this is Dr. Braden with, God willing, some good news." She looked anxiously at him.

"It really depends on how you look at it, but I think I have some good news," he stated, "I still need to check her cervix, but if the pattern we have continues, Ms. Owens will be going into delivery ASAP."

TBC….


End file.
